Place Names for Babies

Gentle and southern-inflected, redolent of the North Carolina landscape.

Zorah, the Old Testament home of Samson, is both soft and substantial.

A rarely-used place name (probably because of the last three letters), Essex was the ancient kingdom of the East Saxons and is now a county in England. The singer David Essex used it as his stage surname, and reality TV couple JP and Ashley Rosenbaum used it for their daughter's name, though few have followed suit.

Euston is best known as a London railway station, which got its name from a stately home and village in the English county of Suffolk. Ultimately it is thought to mean "settlement of a person called Efe". Unlike its Top 1000 soundalike Houston (as in Texas), Euston has never been recording on the charts.

Tupelo, the name of a Mississippi city as well as a tree with soft, light wood that grows in the swamps of the south, attracted some attention as a first name via author Tupelo Hassman. The song Tupelo Honey also brought it some notoriety.

Not yet on the place-name map, this name has Shakespearean ties via the Duke Of Albany character in King Lear.

The name Persia derives from Avestan Parsa, the name of the Indo-European nomadic people who migrated into southern Iran in about 1000 BCE. Persis or Persea, the feminine form of Perseus, feel more namelike.

Judea — also spelled Judaea — is a mountainous region in the Middle East historically part of Jerusalem, that is significant in religions like Judaism and Christianity. As Jude and Judah dominate in the charts, and fresh Biblical place names like Jericho and Galilee feel stylish as ever, Judea holds a lot of potential.

Malibu, the name of a California beach city, evokes sunshine, surfing, and glamour. With its fashionable "oo" sound — as seen in names like Luna and Ruby — Malibu is an unexplored place name worth considering.

Sonoma, the name of a beautiful northern California wine-growing region, might inspire some parents. Other California place names beyond Sonoma: Marin, Berkeley, Sierra.

Though it was derived from a feminine name, Kamari is more popular among baby boys in the US. However, with the rise of unisex Amari on the girl's charts, Kamari is feeling stylish as well.

Ever since Little Egypt practically invented the belly dance in the 1890s, this name has had a suggestive aura. Astonishingly, Egypt is now among the Top 1000 names for girls in the US. Cairo is a related option.

Maybe if you spent your honeymoon there. We did say maybe. Bermuda was used in the 17th century, such as Bermuda Rolfe.

Marah is where the Israelites camped right after they walked through the parted Red Sea. Marah is related to Mara and has the same "bitter" meaning.

The rural Imo State in southeast Nigeria is named after the Imo River, which runs through it. An obscure but intriguing possibility as a first name.

The haunting Lorca is a place name from the Spanish province of Navarre, but far more famous as the surname of the eminent Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, who was the direct inspiration for the name of Leonard Cohen's now-grown daughter Lorca.

A spiritually significant name used in honor of the Virgin Mary. In Spanish, her title is Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, meaning "Our Lady the Queen of the Angels."

Unlike many other western city names, Tulsa has not proved attractive to parents. The name derives from Tallasi, meaning "old town" in the Creek language.

Kimberley is a town in South Africa associated with diamonds and with wealth and luxury in general. It was name for Lord Kimberley, whose surname derived from an English place name. Used for boys in the early twentieth century, it re-emerged as a girls' name in the 1940s, usually spelled Kimberly.